Making Over A Sewing Table!

Way way back in October I started a project to make over a sewing table that came from a fabulous sewer in my family. 

It's a very sturdy table that had seen better days.  So it got primed and painted a dazzling apple green to bring it back to life.  Then with a touch of hand painting and new knobs, she was looking fantastic!

I had some fun painting on part the flips open.  The dandelion wishing flower has always been one of my favorite symbols of being free or blowing with the wind. 

And I chose the "Sew Free...like no one's watching!" saying to remind me to always follow what's in my heart; not a trend or fad.

I was even able to sink my sewing machine into the table like the original design intended!

The Mister used brackets to create a platform in the table at just the right height for my sewing machine.  It's brilliant and I feel like it's going to take my sewing up a few notches!  I do have to take the sewing machine out if I want to close the extra table on the left, but I'm in love!

And here she is in action for the first time!

If you need me I'm sure you can find me by the beautiful green sewing table.  I'm home recouping from head to toe poison ivy these next few days... ugg!  I'm hoping sewing provides a nice distraction from the itching. 

Green Tomato Relish

I have mostly said goodnight to my veggie garden for another year.  In doing so, I harvested (all farmer Joe-like) what was left of the tomato crop and came out with a ton of green tomatoes.  In years past I have put the greenies in a paper bag and waited patiently for them to turn red or shared them with neighbors. 

This year I wanted to try something different since I had so many tomatoes! 

Enter Green Tomato Relish.

I sort of used this recipe from allrecipes.com and another one that I can't quite put my finger on at the moment.  Here is what I put in my relish:

All my green tomatoes, chopped (pictured above)
3 white onions, chopped (other recipe called for four, but I couldn't chop any more... crying too much, ha!  I can't imagine having to do 12)3 green peppers, seeded and chopped
2 red peppers, seeded and chopped
1 cup cider vinegar
4 cups sugar
3 Tablespoons mustard seeds
3 Tablespoons celery seeds

Chop the tomatoes, onions (so many tears -- and Sammy laughing at me and trying to steal onion bits while I did it), and peppers.  Bring the vinegar, sugar and seed mixture to a boil.  Add the rest of the chopped veggies and simmer/boil for 10-15 minutes.  Then can; required a 15 minute water bath.

I am quite well known by my husband for 'blowing up' the kitchen while I cook or make something.  I find a way to use nearly every pot, bowl, utensil, knife... well you get the picture.  I'm messy, but have a lot of fun! 

And here is a little peak mid-way.

And the result... it's pretty.  And oh my goodness it tastes amazing!!  So far, I have had it in a wrap, on a turkey sandwich, and on a hamburger.  You can definitely substitute this relish for sweet pickles on whatever you eat.

And the bonus is that I grew those tomatoes!!  Neat, right?  Sort of a things coming full circle thing. 

Next time I want to experiment a little bit with making this more of a spicy relish.  I also wouldn't mind trying a version with apples in it.  But there will be a period of leaves, white stuff, spring, and summer before I have another go. 

Oh, and speaking of things homemade.  Check out this pink applesauce I made the other night. 

PINK!

Pepto pink. 

The color was accidental.  I did the normal little bit of water in a pot, add quartered apples (skin, seeds, and all) boiling down till the apples are soft.  Then run the mixture through a Foley mill. 

I am guessing these particular apples had a lot of red pigment in the skin.  Made for a pretty pink sauce to make us smile at dinner time!!

Hope you are enjoying a bit of cooking time in the kitchen as well... what have you been making?

Couple of Projects Brewing

I'm having one of those rare soak in time for myself and cross a ton of things off my list days.  Love!!  Funny how a few hours alone with the pup is helping me realize how much I totally needed a break from the grind.

So, going with the flow... no real post planned for the day, but I'm having fun digging out fabrics and spending some time cutting pieces!

Here are some of the fabrics I've been working with the last few days:

This set begins a new project:

See the second from the left?  I was so dang tickled when I unwrapped that fat quarter.  I pulled a ton from a bin and didn't really give a lot of thought to them.  They just looked cute all folded up.

Here's a closer look at it.  It's sooooo pretty!  I would adore a whole quilt from this fabric and it's making me think I need to seek out some more of it!

Look at this little bitty caterpillar!  Don't you just adore it?  I certainly do.  It's fun to incorporate fabrics I adore into things for others!!

One more look at all these colors and patterns together.  Can't wait to show you all these finished projects!

Hope you are having a wonderful day!!

A Green Jug?

As a part of the weather getting warmer, Mr. Happy and I have resumed our projects outside.  Our recent adventures led us to finding this totally cool, totally green glass jug!

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Me here.  Interrupting myself.  

So, I had this whole post worked out, but the day got away from me.  I was, however, reminded how important real connections with real amazing people are.  

I had lunch with a friend today and had a blast!  We laughed and talked, schemed and planned.  It was exactly what I needed.  

It reminds me that I need to make a better effort to stay more connected (in a real way) with all the cool people I am so lucky to be blessed with in my life. 
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Mr. Happy found this as we were putting our new shed up.  It was neatly tucked into a little pocket between the rock and the tree and covered with leaves.

Here's a closer look!

I lifted it out and it still has liquid in it.  Crazy right?  We are thinking remnants from the previous owner. 


Fun to think about what it could have been.  Did they make their own wine?  Was this a way of hiding something?  Wonder if it was forgotten about?

Even the cap had neat details. 

Happiness is finding the unexpected in everyday places!

I am hardly ever prepared.

I am hardly ever prepared with a post that is related to the holiday being celebrated.  That is what makes today so special, because lo and behold here is a post that relates to St. Patricks Day!   

Over the weekend I had a strong urge to bake.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to make, but I knew it had to be some that I could decorate.  You see I had this gel frosting pen left over from Christmas.  I had originally bought a green and a red one.  Well, Katie ended up get a hold of the red one and a few teeth marks later left it unusable.  So, I have had this lonely green gel pen in my pantry with no purpose for a few months. 

I landed on frosted sugar cookies.  I started with one of the cheater bags where you dump the dry ingredients from a package and add one egg and some butter.

I did make the recipie that allowed for making cut out shapes.  It was a tough choice looking at my shapes.  I have a flamingo, longhorns head, and hearts.  Nothing very in spirit with the holiday, so I ended up just using a glass to cut these out. 

They smelled so good coming out of the oven!

Then I had to wait for them to cool!  I still adore these stacking cooling racks!

Then the fun really began.  I gave all the cookies a coat of white/vanilla frosting with a butter knife and then went to work doodling on the cookies with the gel pen.

I made shamrocks:

 And it was pretty easy to write words:

This started off as "luck" but it turned out a bit gooey in the beginning there.

Which lead to making phrases like this one:

And what do you suppose this one means?

Go ahead... take a guess or two!

Yup.  That's a mug of beer.

Put the phase together and you get Green Beer!!

Yes, I'm a dork

Yes, I was having way too much fun with this. 

Yes, Mr. Happy got a nice laugh from this one!

Ok.

Now, try this one.

Any guesses?

I was thinking Spring when I was making this!  Get it?  Spring?


I can see getting more of those gel frosting pens in the future.  They were really fun, made a big impact.  And most importantly made me really happy!!  Oh, and don't you think they would make a cupcake look fantastic?

The pens also said that you could use them to decorate the cookie before cooking which would leave a nice shiny baked in version of the decoration.  I may have to give that a try in the future!

No matter how you decide to celebrate, I want to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Winter colors

I don't know about you.. but when I think of winter color I shriek in terror.

Winter doesn't have amazing, inspiring, vivid colors?  It a dullsville palette of white, gray, brown, mud, and did I mention gray?

Well, I am trying to push past this thinking... open my eyes and see if that really holds true. 
Have you noticed that on a sunny winter day the sky tends to have the most amazing saturated blues?

Mr. Happy took Katie and I on a mini hike over the weekend and I was amazed at how much color I found.  The color all seemed so intense, so powerful, so energized. 

Just look at this delishious emerald moss!!

How about the orange peel colored fungi on the tree? Intense!

The other side of the fallen branch had a minty pastel fungi.  Delicate!

I couldn't get over the textures on this branch.  Looks a lot like a coral garden that you would find in a warm carribean sea!  Spongy and golden interlocked those beautiful cream tables.

Here you can see the creme tables even have a splash of lime on them!

I'm not sure what it is about colors right now.  Maybe I am feeling so color deprived that even the tiniest bit of color is coming across so intensly.  I feel like I am trying to suck up every color memory I can right now as I dream of spring flowers and leaves.

It also may be that I am about to create new art work for the next art show and I am simply looking for inspiration. 

Either way... look around and really take notice of the beautiful winter colors that surround you!

Finding intense gorgeous colors in the sea of winter gray's = happiness!

I'm craving...

I'm craving ....

Oh.  Well that too... who couldn't use a little Katie time?
...but what I meant to say was ... DIRT!!  

And spring!!  Which means bulbs!!! 

This is what we are growing... It's an amaryllis.  The last time I grew one of these I got the leaves to come in... then... nothing.  No flower stalk.  No pretty flower.  So, we'll see how this one goes! 
I'm still excited to think that it could some much needed color while we are surrounded by nothing but all snow and gray!

Oh and I have to tell you that after I brought this home I saw this my own little excitement peaking out from the melting snow...

SQUEEEEE!!!  Tulips and daffodils peaking up!  Katie is the one who found them and nearly dug them up on me.  I told them to hang in and have a nice sleep for a few more months.  

(I'm not sure if that means that I may have planted them too shallow?  Either way, those sweet little plants are doing their job... making me smile like a big silly kid!) 
Bet you can't wait for spring either!

Getting my hands covered in dirt = happiness!



Starting to see the results of planting nearly 400 bulbs at my new house = happiness!



Thinking about how lovely spring is going to be = happiness!